Old Albanian Rugby Football Club (OAs) is a

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

club based in

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The club currently play in National League 2 East.

History

The club was formed in 1924 by a group of Old Boys of St Albans School. They acquired their first pavilion, which was a timber World War I Barrack Hut, located at Beech Bottom. They are the largest community sports club in Hertfordshire. The club won promotion from

National League 2 South National League 2 South (known before September 2009 as National Division Three South) was a level four league in the English rugby union system until the end of season 2021–22. It was one of two leagues at this level, with its counterpart, N ...

in 2011–12 to

National League 1 National One, up until 2023 known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Lea ...

, and in 2012–13 finished 5th, their highest place in the

English rugby union system Men's Rugby union in England consists of 106 leagues, which includes professional leagues at the highest level, down to amateur regional leagues. Promotion and relegation are in place throughout the system. Women's Rugby union in England consi ...

. The club was relegated from National One at the end of the 2014–15 season, after an administration error led to a five-point deduction; this meant that the club missed out on staying up by just a single point. They were promoted back into the division after winning the play-off in 2015–16 before being relegated again to

at the end of the 2017–18 season. Following the implementation of a new competition structure for the National Leagues that took effect for the 2022–23 season, Old Albanians was placed in National League 2 East.

Current standings

Men's teams and honours

'
1st team
'' * London 3 North West champions: 1995–96 *

Hertfordshire Presidents' Cup The Hertfordshire presidents' Cup is an annual rugby union knock-out club competition organised by the Hertfordshire Rugby Football Union. It was first introduced during the 1970–71 season, with the inaugural winners being Fullerians RFC, Ful ...

winners (2): 1998, 2010 * Hertfordshire Sevens winners: 2001, 2009 * National League 3 (south-east v south-west) promotion play-off winner: 2009–10 *

champions: 2011–12 * National 2 promotion play-off winner: 2015–16 '
OAs Academy
'' '
2nd team (Romans)
'' * London 2 (north v south) promotion play-off winner: 2002–03 '
3rd team (Gladiators)
'' '
4th team (Grizzlies)
''

OA RFC's recent achievements

1987 — selected, with two other

clubs, to form part of London League Division 2 1996 — Won London NW Division 3 gaining promotion to London League Division 2 North 1998 — Won the Herts. President's Cup 2001 — Won the County Sevens and were runner-up in the Herts. President's Cup 2003 — Promotion to London League Division One 2005 — Reached their then highest league position (5th place in Powergen London One) 2009 — Won the Herts County 7s, runner-up in the Herts County Cup Final. OA Colts reach both National Cup & Herts County Cup Finals and finish as runner-up. 2010 — OAs gain promotion to

from National League 3 South East with a play-off win vs Old Patesians R.F.C. Old Albanian Saints gain promotion to RFUW Premiership. 2012 — OAs gain promotion to

2013 — Achieved their highest position in National League rugby, 5th place in

Mini and junior rugby

OAs has recruited over 900 mini and junior rugby players. Th
MINIS
enjoy good success in the Hertfordshire leagues, whilst th
JUNIORS
are well represented in the Saracens Herts and Middlesex Junior leagues. Most age groups are able to provide three squads to the leagues and provide very good competition.

Junior & senior women's rugby

OA Saints are the women's section of Old Albanians (OA) Rugby Football Club. The women's section were originally part of St Albans RFC, based in Smallford, which formed in 1989 from only four female players and grew to a squad of over 45 with a place in the top flight National Premiership League One in 1997–98 returning to the Women's Rugby Premiership for two seasons in 2010–11 and 2011–12. In 2003, a year after the Old Albanians moved from Beech Bottom and took up residence in the new facilities at Woollam's playing fields, the Saints were invited to join OA Rugby. The women's section brought with them and keeps to this day their title ‘Saints’ as a nostalgic reminder of their roots at St Albans RFC. Since joining OA Rugby, the Saints have established an excellent women's section with a reputation as one of the top women's club in the county, with regional, divisional and international representative honours amongst its ranks. In 2005 the first women's XV (''
OA SAINTS
'''), unbeaten since November 2003, secured the South East One league title without losing a game. They won promotion to National League 2 in the subsequent play-off competition, securing victory over each of their regional rivals. In 2010 the OA Saints 1st XV gained promotion to the RFUW Premiership. They currently compete in the National South East 2 Championship and finished 3rd in the league for the 2016–17 and 2017–18 season, so are targeting to win the league in the 2018–19 season. In the 2018–2019 season with England and Saracens full back Sarah McKenna now established in the coaching team, the Saints won the Championship SE2 league by 8 points and then gained promotion to Championship 1 South by beating Guildford Gazelles in the play-off. They also completed the double by beating Harrogate RFC in the RFU National Intermediate cup final to record their most successful season In 2017–18 the junior sides have won a multitude of tournaments and their league as well as getting Saracens, County and England Talent Development Group honours (detailed below)

2017–18 Saints success summary

''Under 13s'' The U13s don't play in a league but had a very successful season only losing three games. Waterfall Series – played a series of round robin tournaments, topped 3 of the 4 and finished 2nd in one Peterborough Tournament – finished top of their pool, lost semi-final 10–15 so finished 3rd. St George's Day (Middlesex) Tournament, finished top of their pool, no play-offs. RAF Halton Tournament – finished top of their pool, no play-offs. Worthing Tournament – won the tournament. Under 15s National Cup-Topped their pool in Area 2 overall finished 4th in Area 2 (A1, A2, A3 are South England & A4, A5, A6-North) St George's Day (Middlesex) Tournament – finished 4th. RAF Halton Tournament – finished 4th. Worthing Tournament – runner-up in Plate. 7 selected to represent Herts County under-15s Under 18s National Cup – (A1, A2, A3 are South England & A4, A5, A6-North) A Team –- topped their pool in Area 2 and are Area 2 cup winners, then played A1 & A3 winners to establish the South of England Champion but lost those finals so ended up as 3rd best team in the South. B Team – topped their pool in Area 2, won their quarter-final but lost the semi-final finishing 4th in Area 2. Inv XV Series – runner-up St George's Day (Middlesex) Tournament – finished 1st, cup winners. RAF Halton Tournament – finished 3rd. Worthing Tournament – Plate winners. Seventeen selected to represent Herts County U18s One selected to represent Essex County U18s Ten selected to represent Saracens U18 Centre of Excellence (Academy). Ladies Women's Intermediate Cup – reached the last of the pool stages Women's South East 2 Championship – finished 3rd in the league – 3 tops from top spot. Five players selected to represent Herts County One player selected to represent Essex County Ten players taking part in summer 7s tournaments in the UK and Europe.

Facilities

After 78 years based at Beech Bottom, the club moved to their current playing fields following the development of Cheapside Farm into The Woollam Playing Fields, generally referred to as "Woollam's". The playing facilities opened in 2002 with a club-selected XV match against a star-studded international XV led by Peter Winterbottom which formed the centre-piece of the opening ceremony. The state-of-the-art sporting complex on the northern outskirts of

was acknowledged as the largest sporting development in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

during its construction. It is regarded by many as the finest amateur sporting venue in the land. The Woollam Playing Fields is the choice of

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

for their home training base and has hosted both England Under 16 and England RFUW International matches.

Representative honours

OAs have had players recognized at county level and national level. Men's rugby

: Jeff Probyn,

Maro Itoje Oghenemaro Miles Itoje (born 28 October 1994) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a lock for Premiership Rugby club Saracens and captains the England national team and the British & Irish Lions Itoje signed his first p ...

, Max Malins, Nick Isiekwe, Paul Gustard

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

: Paul Turner

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

: Darragh O'Mahony

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

: Steve Pope, Greg Botterman

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

: Danilo Bulatovic

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

: Charlie Openshaw, Andrew Daish

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

: Craig Dowsett Women's rugby

: Sarah McKenna

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

: Nadia Brannon

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

: Caroline Collie & Jodie Rettie

: Trina Edgar & Megan Williams

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

: Tamsin Reed

References

External links

* {{National League 2 South Rugby clubs established in 1924 Rugby union clubs in Hertfordshire St Albans